Noblesse Oblige
"Noblesse Oblige" is the third episode of the sixth season, and the 68th episode in the series overall. It was written by Taylor Elmore and Benjamin Cavell and directed by Peter Weller. It first aired on February 3, 2015. Plot Summary Raylan follows a trail of illegal explosives in an attempt to pin Boyd, who discovers he's run afoul of a dangerous new player in town. Recap Early a.m., Ava and Boyd are lying on top of the bar, having drunk the better part of a bottle of bourbon, when Ava gets a text message. She tells a mildly curious Boyd that it's from someone in her beauty salon she's going to have to cover for. Then the all-nighter catches up with her: "You need me to hold yore hair back?" Boyd, ever the gallant beau inquires. "I ain't puked up bourbon since I wore a cheerleader skirt," Ava replies.Cut to 7:00 am: A badly hungover Ava meets Raylan in the local cemetery where they are met by David Vasquez and Rachel Brooks who press their Confidential Informant to start providing them with some useful confidential information. They press hard, threatening to revoke her status and send her back to prison. Carl, his younger brother Earl and The Pig are speculating about how the Pizza Portal is moving around underground money when Boyd walks in with his hangover. Ty Walker arrives and explains that he knows Boyd was the one who robbed the bank — "That was a solid piece of trade-craft," he flatters Boyd and his crew — and tells him that it wasn't Calhoun's money that was robbed, but that of Walker's employer, and that if matters aren't set straight, "there will be consequences." Boyd hears him out, then dismisses the messenger, while Carl offers to throw him out. Boyd calms Carl with a word, and Walker takes leisurely leave of the bar. Rachel and Raylan on their way to see Luther Kent, argue about how the case against Boyd is progressing, too slowly to Rachel's thinking. Luther, who once dug coal with Raylan and Boyd, operates the "explosives cage" for the Obsidian #7 Mine Shaft. After some casual reminiscences, Boyd and Rachel check the explosives log and discover that some Emuline #33 det cord is unaccounted for. They leave, satisfied that they now know where Boyd has been getting his explosives. As they get in their Marshals car, Rachel gets a call. "Wanna guess where your C.I. is right now?" she asks Raylan as she hangs up. Ava is in a reasonably busy Pizza Portal sitting alone at a table. She spills her soft drink on her sleeveless white top and asks the cashier where the ladies room is. Out of sight from the main room, she passes up the rest room to descend into the basement where she snaps a series of cellphone photos before being interrupted by Choo Choo Mundo. They engage in casual banter as Ava asks him about the huge old bank safe in the basement, but are shortly interrupted by Ty Walker who politely asks Choo Choo to escort Ava back up the stairs. He goes so far as to escort her out to her vehicle, Clearly taken with the fetchingly-attired woman, he softly hits on her, then asks her name. "Ava," she replies. "Ava Randolph" before getting in her vehicle and driving away. Back at the bar, Boyd, Earl, Carl and The Pig study Ava's surveillance photos, and decide that they are up against five people. Earl expresses misgivings about the force differential, but his brother gets him back in line. Identifying the safe as the exceptionally strong "Excelsior 5200," Boyd tells Earl that he's going to need him to get him "a helluva lot more Emulex." Rachel and Raylan head to visit Luther Kent's son Tyler, who is smoking an illegal substance and playing a video game. Earl enters and tells the young man that they have more Emulex to get. Tyler tries to tell Earl that what he already got them was a one-time thing, and that he's fearful that the ATF will catch on to what they've done. Earl starts to get heavy with Tyler when Rachel and Raylan walk in and take charge of the scene, letting them know that Tyler was the one behind the Emulex pilferage. Tyler doesn't like it and orders them out. Earl goes one better and threatens them, then takes a swing at Raylan. This doesn't turn out well, and after some further dialogue, mostly by Raylan, they two Deputy Marshals leave after Raylan leaves Tyler his business card. Alone again, Earl pulls himself together and resumes his discussion with Tyler, using even more menace, but telling the reluctant fellow that he has a new plan to get the Emulex. Alone that night in the bar, Boyd hears a sound and, pistol drawn, goes to investigate. He is immediately jumped by two masked men, bound and hooded and taken away. The next morning, Tyler and Carl, wearing fright masks try making a stealthy approach to rob the Obsidian #7 Mine Shaft of the explosives Boyd needs. Raylan and Rachel are there ahead of them and following a tense confrontation exacerbated by a belligerent Earl, take the young men into custody as a saddened Luther watches, The other masked men to have snatched Boyd and taken to a large barn somewhere. He is still bound when they pull his hood off and explain that this is his second warning, and there won't be a third. The masked Seabass reveals that they have figured out that the girl from the Pizza Portal was there to do Boyd's recon, "figuring everybody's too busy looking at her to see where she's looking. Wonder if that'll still work when she's not so easy to look at." They leave Boyd to his own devices. Ava is home alone when Avery Markham and Ty Walker pay her a visit and ask to be invited in for a drink and a brief conversation. Avery, with Ty watching intently, spells it out for Ava that he understand what he believes is her fantasy outlaw life, "'just you and Boyd against the world", and that it's a doubly tough life for a woman. "I know for a woman to survive in this line of work she's gotta be harder than the men," Avery says smoothly and with intensity. "My question is, are you that kind of woman, Ava? Because if you ain't, then you'll never be more than a token, something to be threatened or hurt, just to keep your man in line." His hard look softens as he sits back in his chair, smiling at her as he taken another sip of bourbon. Elsewhere, a freed Boyd stands in the dark out of sight outside the Obsidian shed where Kentucky State Police and ATF agents are collecting evidence. Raylan is trying to make the case with Luther to not try to take the weight for his son Tyler's actions. But Luther is adamant, and tells Raylan that he knows that he'd take the same risk for his own daughter, no matter what, when she grows up. Raylan sighs and tells a KSP Officer, "Yeah, we're done!" as he leads the prisoner away. Later Boyd cautiously enters Ava's to find Avery still nursing his bourbon at the dining room table as Ava sits uncomfortably at the other end. Ty Walker walks in behind him, and Boyd says "Now that I'm feeling more like myself, I sure do wish I had a second chance to make a first impression. But I get the distinct impression that you ain't the one I'm here to talk to." With a glance at Ava, he offers his hand and introduces himself. Avery tells him that they've met, and speaks his own name. It registers with Boyd, though he doesn't seem to remember meeting Markham when he was "nine or ten years old." With apparent sincerity and just the right amount of contrition, Boyd offers an elegant apology for his "craven attempt to pilfer what rightfully belongs to you," adding, "In my defense, I offer only my ignorance." Avery seems to accept that Boyd thought he was robbing realtor Calhoun, thinks it over for a long moment, then accepts Boyd's words on the matter before telling him quite plainly that if he ever sets foot in the Pizza Portal again, he'll kill him. And as he leaves, he ungraciously rubs Boyd's nose in his failed schemes, "Come to it, I guess you ain't all that big now. Grown, but still just playing pretend." Raylan and Rachel, still at the crime scene, discuss Raylan's strategy of arresting Tyler Kent and letting Earl go, basically to "make Boyd jumpy." Rachel says, "I hope you know what you're doing," to which Raylan responds, "I do too." Mikey purposefully comes in a room and raps on the cover of a tanning bed. From within, Wynn Duffy responds impatiently, "Mikey, once again, talking while I'm in here can lead to unevenness of my facial tone." Boyd wants a sit-down that very night, and wants Katherine Hale in attendance. An unhappy Wynn, emerging wearing something less than a Speedo, agrees and directs Mikey to summon Katherine, and to search Boyd when he arrives. "And make sure you get his cigarettes," recalling what happened to Ethan Picker. An agitated Boyd arrives and demands to know what Katherine and Wynn didn't tell him that they were robbing Avery Markham. Katherine takes her time to reply that she had been afraid that if she'd told him, be might not take the job. Under pressure to reveal the nature of her relationship with Avery, Katherine admits that she's sleeping with the man. Wynn thinks Boyd sounds like he's backing out of the job, but on the contrary, he's going to go through with it. "And then I'm going to stick a bullet in your boyfriend's head." As he turns to exit, Katherine says, "You know what, Boyd? From the moment I met you I just knew you were the man of my dreams." Boyd lets himself into his and Ava's hotel room reserved by Wynn, and prepares to get into bed with her. She tries to pump him for information about what he's planning. Boyd is evasive, and ultimately confesses that since she's gotten out of prison, "sometimes I feel like I don't know you anymore." Ava pulls back the bedclothes to reveal her nude torso. "Tell you what. You come on over here and I'll remind you." That's it for that conversation as Boyd is helpless before her allure. ''- Created by Dean Speir for IMDb'' Appearances First Appearances *Luther Kent - A former mining partner of Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder and explosives owner. *Tyler Kent - Luther's son who has been stealing Emulex from his father to give to Boyd. Deaths *No deaths in this episode. Production Cast Starring cast *Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens *Nick Searcy as Art Mullen (credit only) *Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy *Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder *Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson (credit only) *Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks *Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder Guest stars *Mary Steenburgen as Katherine Hale *Garret Dillahunt as Ty Walker *Rick Gomez as David Vasquez *Justin Welborn as Carl Lennon *Brent Briscoe as Luther Kent *Scott Grimes as Seabass *Duke Davis Roberts as Choo-Choo *Ryan Dorsey as Earl Lennon *Patrick Carlyle as Tyler Kent *Sam Elliott as Avery Markham Co-starring *Shawn Parsons as The Pig *Jonathan Kowalsky as Mike Cosmatopolis Gallery S2.jpg External Links Category:Season 6 episodes